Test Driving the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Wales Comic Con

The November date for Part 2 of the Wales Comic Con had arrived and on Friday I had an Alfa Romeo Giulietta delivered to review as part of a big weekend of coverage.

So Friday saw me getting used to the car and its gadgets, in preparation for the trip over to Wrexham on Saturday morning.

On Saturday it was time to get motoring, I entered the postcode of Glyndwr University into the Alfa Romeo Giulietta’s built in Satnav (which was surprisingly easy to use), paired up my android phone to the Bluetooth, just in case I had any important calls on-route and started out on my journey.

On Route to Wrexham Comic Con in the Alfa Romeo

The journey over to Wrexham was lovely, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta handled very well on the country lanes with it holding the road very nicely on the corners, it also has a lovely comfortable ride with its suspension giving a smooth ride along the lanes. Once onto the motorway, the Giulietta holds its own, the automatic gearbox doesn’t jolt the car as it changes through the gears as you accelerate onto the motorway from the slip road to join the other traffic.

Activating the cruise control to enjoy the drive was easy to perform, adjusting the speed is done by lowering or lifting the lever, if you overtake a car and then take you foot off the gas peddle, the Giulietta will return to the speed you have set, pressing the break will return you to normal driving.

After a good run down the motorway, it was time to turn off down some scenic roads to arrive at the Wales Comic Con in Wrexham, the car performed lovely on the winding roads, steering is sensitive and light, giving the car the manoeuvrability on tight bends.

Arriving at Wales Comic Con

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is certainly a stunning looking car and upon arrival at Glyndwr University, it was certainly turning some heads as we pulled into the carpark on day 1. Several friends of mine at the event were interested in the car as well, including my good friend Royd Tolkien who even had some photos with the car, suffice to say I think he wants one himself now.

Royd Tolkien Check out the Alfa Romeo Giulietta at Wales Comic Con

It was certainly a typical November Wales Comic Con, there was a cold chill in the air as we made our way from the car to pick up our passes, but things soon started to warm up as we walked around the event, there didn’t seem as many vendors in the main all as there have in previous years, but this leaves way for more guests from the worlds of film & TV and comic books, sadly not too many authors, which is a shame.

Vendors at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

There are some great moments to be had by arriving early, you do get the chance to get some of those shots that you normally wouldn’t get, such as Mr Motivator and Trev & Simon before the visitors descend on the hall. We would be catching up with Trev & Simon latter for a cheeky video.

Mr Motivator and Trev & Simon pose for Blazing Minds

Saturday I had my apprentice with me, also known as my niece Alicia, she’s interested in what I do here with Blazing Minds and wants to learn the ropes, so this is the perfect opportunity to see the other side of visiting an event as Press rather than a visitor. She certainly has a passion for this kind of thing and dived right in with questions etc. Alicia was also excited to meet some of my friends at Wales Comic Con, which included Justin Lee Collins, Royd Tolkien, Andy Fairhurst and Thomas Nicholas.

Alicia meeting good buddy of Blazing Minds, Thomas Nicholas

Saturday at Wales Comic Con always seems a little thin on the cosplayers compared to a Sunday, but this is probably down to the masquerade ball being on a Sunday, but that doesn;t mean that people don’t make the effort to enjoy themselves with some amazing cosplay outfits from Andrew Lloyd-Webbers “Cats” to Marvel’s Thor and I was really impressed with Thor, now that’s an awesome look-a-like.

Thor arrives at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

As for the “Cats”, I just couldn’t resist grabbing my good friend Justin to get a shot of him with some feline friends.

Wales Comic Con Day 1 Comes to an End

So Saturday was another brilliant day, lots to do and see and so many people enjoying themselves on a rather chilly November day, but despite the cold, the first day of the event went down well, with so many people at the event and lots of smiling faces at the guests tables and in the Q&As, Saturday was just a tease for Sunday!

And what better way to leave the event than in style and comfort, it was a chance to get back in the rather sexy Alfa Romeo Giulietta and head back home for something hot to eat and drink, so we jumped in the car, set the A/C to a rather comfortable 22°c, headed out of the carpark onto the motorway, cranked up the DAB radio and hit the cruise control, ah driving bliss, don;t think my niece wanted to get out of the car, I think this is a car she will want at some point.

Day 2 of the Wales Comic Con

Day 2 had arrived and I had a camera man with me for the day for some exclusive in-car shots of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta as we travelled over to Wrexham, having to pick him up from Prestatyn gave me the chance to use the SatNav again, this time I used a rather nice feature that allowed me to add his location and then the University location would automatically follow on as the next destination, nice.

Blazing Minds takes the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta for a spin to Wrexham Comic Con

So after picking him up we headed over to Wrexham, again the cruise control handled our driving at a nice steady pace and by doing so, we noticed that the distance available for the fuel in the tank slowly increased, so that’s a good thing to know for future reference.

Having a cameraman in the car certainly helps get some great shots of the dashboard and interior in the environment that the car should be seen, driving. Although people do tend to slow down behind and in front of you when the passenger is sitting with DSLR camera.

Handy directions with SatNav in the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta on route to Wales Comic Con

It was a colder day to start off than the Saturday, but again people were smiling and enjoying themselves as they walked around in their cosplay, there were more cosplayers than the Saturday and the main hall did seem busier.

Alice and The Hatter at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

All the guests were also looking happy and were taking the time to chat with those that had a myriad of questions about their roles and much more, one thing which I do like about the event is that the guests don’t always just stay sitting down and take people’s money for an autograph, they get up for hugs and photos, Matt Ryan (Constantine, Arrow) is no exception and I saw him get up to chat personally with fans on several occasions.

Matt Ryan takes time to chat with fans at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

Kevin McNally chats with fans at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

Paul Amos listening to a fan at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

Something I had been interested in seeing during Sunday was the Q&A with Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss) so grabbing my camera, I popped on over to the Q&A halls to get some shots and to listen to the stories behind the movies and future projects that Michael would be involved in, who should I bump into but Justin sitting in the front row.

Justin Lee Collins at the Michael Biehn Q&A

I have to say it was a fascinating Q&A, so interesting to find out about Michael’s career and stories about the industry, including several stories about Terminator, the none return of Alien’s “Newt” and much more. I was surprised that he didn’t sit down through the Q&A and that compare, Rhyl Jones, didn’t get a word in, it seemed that Michael Biehn had complete control of the Q&A.

Michael Biehn talking about Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss at Wales Comic Con 2016 Part 2

See You Next Year Wales Comic Con

So another Wales Comic Con had come to an end … Or had it? We stayed behind when the event was closing, caught up with Thom to sort out the evening for the aftershow where he was playing with the Straight Jacket Legends. Also had the chance to meet and chat with Stargate SG-1’s Corin Nemec about the day, 8oz Sirloin Stacks and catching up over at the aftershow and boy oh boy what an amazing aftershow, but more about that in tomorrow’s article.

Thoughts on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta

It was fantastic to be able to test drive the Giulietta over the weekend, it’s been an amazing chance to check out a car that not only looks amazing and drives like a dream. The handling, the comfort, the tech inside, it’s roomy and luxurious with its leather seats and amazing looking dashboard, driving the Giulietta has been a wonderful experience, as I mentioned earlier it is a head turner.

It has a very large boot, we managed to get so much gear in that we could have got loads more in there, it’s huge!

If you are looking for a practical, sexy looking, high-performance car that has some oomph to it when your driving and is also pretty good on fuel, then this would probably be my choice. It’s been a fun weekend and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta has certainly added to the fun-factor, making the weekend not only great to attend but also extremely fun to get travel to and from in style and luxuary.

Overall the Alfa Romeo Giulietta has great looks, it’s exciting to drive and makes you just want to jump in and drive it some more. Now I just need one of my own now to make my driveawy look awesome. If you would like to know more about the Alfa Romeo Giulietta then pop by the official website for more details.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Find Your Passion

Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer, based at the Scala in Prestatyn and at the many Cineworld screens, where she reviews the latest movies, she has also had several articles published in various publications. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK's Top 10 Film Blogs.